Once again Twilight flew over the streets of Neigh Orleans, pondering the small mystery of why there weren't more ponies around. You'd think that after an explosion and a supposedly hostile coup that somepony might have noticed.

Perhaps ponies here were used to ignoring things, or had taken the Ponyville route of thinking where a hundred foot tall, red and black magic stealing centaur was merely brought up as a note of concern in a town council meeting, but her new castle was a topic of hot contention due to its violation of several planning codes.

Twilight laughed to herself as she remembered that. It was about to reach boiling point when Princess Celestia had quietly entered the meeting and very calmly told everypony to stop being silly. Nopony ever questions Princess Celestia, and it was never mentioned again, leaving Twilight wishing she could solve disputes so easily just by having so much presence it was almost overwhelming.

Turning her attention back to the matter at hoof she quickly found herself flying past where she was meant to be going, the one place that would still have a large number of ponies in; The Rising Sun, centre of the Neigh Orleans rumour mill. If some pony told you something down the pub, it had to be true.

She banked back around and headed down to the entrance, surprising several ponies outside it, and for once since losing her leg, managing to pull off a tidy landing. Ponies gawped at her and she politely smiled at them before heading inside. Not in the mood to dodge around ponies, many of the building's inhabitants found themselves being picked up and moved aside as she made her way to the bar. "Greenson."

The large green stallion nodded in greeting before heading out through the back of the bar, Twilight teleporting to the other side of the bar to follow him. "I trust everything went well?"

Twilight blew out of the side of her mouth for a moment before answering, "Yeah, more or less. Thing is though is that nopony in town really knows it happened."

"And that's where you want me to come in?"

"We plan on having a meeting in the city centre tomorrow at midday to properly reveal ourselves. If you could start spreading news of it and what happened around I would greatly appreciate it. We'll be going around announcing the meeting before it happens so don't worry thinking we're relying solely upon you for this, but the more positive rumours going around the better."

"You can count on me."

"Good. Thank you Greenson." She left the room and teleported back across the bar, ignoring the stares as she went. She left the building and was about to take off again when she heard Greenson shouting to be heard over the noise.

"Oi! You lot! Listen up! Those freedom fighters I told you about liberated the city! There's a meeting in the city centre tomorrow at midday, so spread the word!" A ragged cheer went up from the ponies inside and Twilight almost choked. That was how Greenson spread rumours? I knew I should have built a printing press instead of relying on this. And then teach more ponies to read... Choosing to put it out of her mind she took to the air and headed back to the city centre. To tackle her next task she was going to need a little help.

Daybreak looked up and followed Twilight with his eyes as she came in to land, "How'd it go?"

"Do you actually have any idea how Greenson spreads rumours? Like, at all?"

"He shouts it to a bunch of drunks and lets them do all the leg work. Trust me, we know. It does seem to work though."

"Well, it better. Have you seen the filly? I think I might need her for my next job."

"She went into the concert hall for some reason. Probably to antagonise the prisoners or something."

"And you let her!?"

"I seem to remember this thing where we're trying to build a free country or something..."

"That- You- I-!" Twilight groaned in defeat and stomped off as best she could, leaving a chuckling Daybreak to his own devices. She pushed the doors to the concert hall open and poked her head into the main auditorium, thankfully finding everything to be quiet as the captured guards lounged on the audiences seats under the watchful eyes of the ponies in the balconies.

She also caught the bizarre sound of what she could only describe as a pony farting rhythmically into a metal tube of some kind, and it seemed to be coming from behind the curtains at the far end of the hall. She ducked her head back out of the room and headed around to the back of the stage, the music, if you could call it that, getting louder as she got closer.

She wasn't fully prepared for what she found, and cocked her head quizzically at the strange sight of the filly trying to play a sousaphone that was at least twice the size of her, and rather than carry it around, she sat in the middle of it as it rested on the floor. "Wha- What are you doing?"

The filly stopped blowing the little tune she had been playing since Twilight had got there and looked up, "Oh hey Twilight! I'm playing a... whatever this thing is."

"It's a sousaphone, and why are you playing it?"

"There's this really fat pony with the guards who kept pacing around, and I thought it'd be funny to follow him around playing this-" She played the little tune again, pa pa pa-pum-pum-pum-pum-pum, pa-pum-pum-pum-pum. "-but this instrument is kinda too big for me and crazy heavy so I had to stay here and hope it had the same effect."

Twilight tried to imagine it, but the idea didn't seem funny to her. "I don't get it... How do you know how to play that thing anyway?"

"I'm not about to claim to be some kind of musical prodigy, but I can whistle a mean tune so this couldn't have been much harder."

And there was that same lack of sense that Twilight had to deal with all too often. She decided to ignore it and press on, "Never mind. I need your help with something."

The filly jumped out of the middle of the sousaphone and gave Twilight a mock salute, "Whaddya need o' captain my captain?"

"What? Ugh." Twilight sighed irritably at the filly. "You'll know when we get there, but first we need to pick up Summer."

This time it was the filly's turn to look confused, "Summer? What the bloody hell do we need her for?"

This time Twilight had two other ponies accompanying her as she flew, on this occasion heading out of Neigh Orleans to a location a couple of miles upriver. Since she wasn't sure where she was going, other than she would know it when she saw and apparently smelled it, she wasn't rushing, allowing both the filly and Summer to enjoy themselves a bit first.

"WOOHOO!!" the filly yelled with unbridled joy. Once she had worked how to position her legs to force herself into barrel-rolls there had been no stopping her, leaving Twilight at a loss as to how she hadn't thrown up yet.

Summer's reaction to the flight was much more measured, with her eyes closed as she enjoyed the wind in her mane. She also had her wings spread in the perfect gliding position. Not that Twilight had told her, yet, but she was actually carrying her own weight. All Twilight provided was the thrust.

"Summer?"

Summer wobbled at the intrusion into her quiet before opening her eyes, "Um...yes?"

"What if I told you I'm not actually carrying you right now?"

"What!?" Summer started kicking her legs and flapping her wings in a panic and dropped a couple of meters before Twilight retook her weight.

"At least I wasn't, anyway."

"Sorry."

"No-no! Don't be! I was rather impressed you were holding yourself on your own wings actually. Especially since you haven't been taught how."

"Oh! Well-uh, I didn't know I was doing it. Is that bad?"

"Its very good actually. If its alright with you, I could teach you how to fly when it's a bit quieter?" Twilight could almost feel the filly grumbling under her breath.

"Um, I guess so, maybe. Yes?"

"Great! Obviously we can't do it now, but soon."

"Then you'll be a real pegasus!" the filly said in a chipper yet highly sarcastic tone. "Oh boy!"

"Filly, I know you're jealous, and I can perfectly understand why-"

"Oh can you now?"

"-but its not fair to keep Summer grounded if she doesn't have to be, or want to be."

The filly rolled her eyes, "Yes I'm jealous. How can you expect me to not be? Honestly though, I'll get over it once I move onto being jealous of her for being able to fly."

"That... was a joke right?" The filly shrugged. "Okaaay." Twilight looked down and spotted something lit up on the side of the river, figuring that it was what she was looking for. "Ah ha! I think we're here."

"Here where?" The filly asked, "You still haven't told us what we're doing out here."

"We're here to free the pegasi, and hopefully convince them to at least help us."

"And you had be all secretive about that because..?"

"Because I didn't know how either of you would react to doing this and I didn't want to have to drag you out here every step of the way, as it were."

"That doesn't even make sense? Why would we be against it? And if we were against it how would dragging us out here help in the slightest?"

"I didn't say you'd be against it, but I don't know how much you would want to help me convince them to join us."

"Have you been getting enough sleep lately?"

"Yes, plenty-"

"Passing out doesn't count." Twilight winced guiltily. She had been drinking a bit lately she had to admit, but she didn't think anypony else had really noticed.

"I'm fine, I just didn't want to risk the chance that you might say no to helping me, alright? I'm sorry!"

"Okay! Chill your shit Twi! Yeesh." Twilight landed by the compound, which had the same caged over and walled design as the one in Stalliongrad, before heading around to the entrance of the guards quarters. The filly covered her nose with a hoof, "What is that smell?"

"Shame, despair, fear, hopelessness," Summer listed off quietly.

"Smells like bad diets and poor bathroom facilities to me." The filly took a few steps as she thought, "So yeah, shit. It smells like shit."

Twilight pushed open the door and was pleased to see that the fighters she had despatched an hour earlier had done their jobs and apprehended the guards. "Any problems?" she asked.

"No ma'am," a masked unicorn answered.

"Good." She looked around the guards quarters and spotted a bowl of apples and pears. She wasn't sure why they would have a bowl of such things, but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. "Put them in one of the mobile cages, and stick them with the city guard once you get back." Twilight picked up the fruit and headed for the heavy iron door which she suspected led to where the pegasi lived.

She was about to open it when the filly stopped her, her expression unusually serious. "Twilight, have you really thought about this? The pegasi refused to fight for the last rebellion, so I'm not sure why you think you can convince them."

"Firstly, I'm not asking them to fight for us, and secondly, should I need it I have an offer to make them that nopony in their position should refuse."

"Wait, so if you're not asking them to fight, what are you asking them for?"

"You'll see."

"Great, again with the secrets. You're with me aren't you Summer?"

The blue pony tapped a hoof to her chin as she thought, "I think the pegasi should be able choose what they want. That rebellion just wanted them to be slaves of a different kind." Twilight could've hugged her.

"Exactly! I'm not demanding anything, and if they refuse what I ask, then so be it." Twilight pushed the door open and walked through. She found herself stepping into the enclosure and into a layer of cold mud that almost reached her ankles. At least she hoped it was mud. The place reeked of backed up plumbing to put it politely.

Apparently hers and the others actions had not gone unnoticed because a large number of pegasi were standing in the enclosure, watching her with dull yet curious eyes, while more still peeked at her through the doors of the rough wooden huts they pegasi lived in. One blue mare in particular caught her attention, watching them around the edge of one of the huts. Twilight almost felt ill at how skinny and bony she appeared.

Twilight swallowed nervously, all her mentally pre-prepared speeches suddenly forgotten, "Uh, hi. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I'm the leader of the Mareitania Liberation Front, a working name, and I'm here to inform you that you are now free!" Twilight smiled at them, but the smile tapered off as the pegasi stared at her like she had grown an extra horn. "So-uh, any questions?" There was a groan from the filly as a mare in the front raised a hoof, "Yes, you in the front."

"Are you going to give us orders or can we go back to sleep?"

"What? No! You're free now, you don't have to take orders from anypony!" A stallion in the back raised a hoof, "You."

"So if we don't have to follow orders, we could go back to sleep and you couldn't stop us?"

"Uh... If that's what you want, then yes, I suppose. I don't think you understand what I'm trying to say here. I'm setting you free. I'm going to remove your collars and wing binders, open those gates, and let you out so you can go where you want and do what you want, as long as you don't go near places still controlled by the Duke that is."

"Why?" asked a mare.

"Because he will try to recapture you and make you a slave again. Obviously that won't be a problem once we defeat him, but until then I would recommend sticking around Neigh Orleans. Well... I wouldn't go into Neigh Orleans as such because ponies there might get a bit funny about pegasi walking around at first. Summer here has to wear a cloak when she's in public to avoid problems."

"Boy, you are really selling this whole 'freedom' thing aren't you..." the filly hissed out the corner of her mouth.

"I'm sorry," Twilight whispered back, "I don't know what to do! They're just standing there like they don't know what freedom is!"

"That's because they don't you dolt!"

"Why do you have a horn and wings?" asked a pony from the crowd.

"An excellent question! I'm an alicorn, which is a mix of unicorn, earth pony, and pegasi traits-"

"Are you going to be our new master?"

"What? No! You don't have a master-"

"Is the earth pony filly our new master then?"

"No! Nopony is-"

"I AM NOT AN EARTH PONY!!" Twilight and the pegasi all took a step back from the filly. She ripped her clothing off as fast as she could and threw it in the mud, "Ask me how I got these scars! Go on! Ask!" She stomped angrily through the pegasi, the crowd splitting to make way for her, and stopped in front of the skinny blue mare. "I bet she could give you an answer!" And she probably could. The mare's wings were crooked and broken, having not been set before healing.

"You had a flying accident?" Or not.

"No! Wait... Oh, right, well that's awkward... What I was trying to say is that the guards in Whiplash cut my wings off!"

"Filly, I don't think-"

"Shut up Twilight!" The filly returned to Twilight's side and turned to face the pegasi, "Listen up! You are now free. This means you don't have to work for your food and be kept in these shitty conditions. We will remove your collars and wing binders, open those gates and let you go. Or, I do believe Twilight there has a proposition for you."

Twilight stared blankly for a moment as the pegasi all turned to face her, "Hmm? Oh yes! I lead a group of freedom fighters, trying to liberate this country from the Duke, and one of our goals is to free the pegasi from slavery. I'm not asking you to fight for me, although any volunteers will be welcomed, but I am asking that you continue to manage the weather, and maybe do a few other small things, like deliver messages and such. In exchange you will be given proper food and you'll be allowed to build cloud homes in a safe location."

"Your feathers will no longer be clipped and you will never have to wear those awful collars again. If you want though, you may walk out those doors and go choose your own path, and I'll wish you all the best if you do." She plucked an apple from the fruit bowl and walked through the pegasi to the skinny mare, offering her the apple. The mare watched it cautiously for a few seconds before taking it in her mouth and devouring it. "At the very least I hope you'll consider it. The choice is entirely yours."

The pegasi all bunched up and Twilight could hear them whispering, although she couldn't make sense of the actual words. She was rather surprised though when a large number of them started raising hooves in what was clearly a vote. Twilight hadn't expected them to use the old earth pony system of democracy. The pegasi of old had lived under a rigid military dictatorship, so Twilight expected them to still utilize that methodology to some degree. Apparently though, the pegasi and earth ponies had swapped systems. She couldn't help but wonder what system the unicorns might use if they were still able.

As one the pegasi turned to face her again, and a creamy coloured mare with a vivid blue mane pushed to the front, "If it frees our brothers and sisters, we'll help."

Twilight's eyes almost sparkled with happiness, "You will!? Wonderful! Thank you so much!" She slipped her knife out of its sheath with her magic and floated it over to Summer, "Summer, start cutting off their binders while I take care of the collars," Summer took the knife in her mouth and nodded, "Filly, go raid the guards quarters for as much decent food as you can. It's a long flight to Puddingarde and they'll need to fuel up."

"On it." She stopped by her discarded clothing and picked it up before sighing and throwing it away, "Why did I have to throw it in the mud? You do have the key thing for their collars right?" Twilight closed her eyes as her horn started to glow. A second later there was a pop and the key appeared from thin air, "Right," the filly groaned, "the cheaters method."

Twilight beckoned a young mare over, taking a moment to shred her binders with her magic before unlocking the collar. The collar slipped off the mare's neck and fell into the mud, leaving behind a bare patch that the mare rubbed, regardless of the fact that she was spreading mud all around her neck, "It's off! It's really off!" The mare tackled Twilight into a hug, "Thank you so much!"

"Heh, you're welcome. Feel free to take a piece of the fruit from the bowl." The mare did so and practically danced off. Twilight smiled as she watched her before turning back to find herself looking into the grey eyes of the cream coloured mare from before. "Oh, hello. Are you the leader of these pegasi?"

"I'm not the leader no, but I speak for them because I'm the eldest here."

"But you hardly look much older than myself."

"Eldest doesn't mean old. Pegasi don't live for long living like this."

Twilight suddenly felt ashamed, "I'm sorry, I never meant to insult you."

"And you didn't." The mare stood quietly watching the other mare happily munch on her fruit as Twilight undid her collar, before kicking it away. "So this is really happening then? You're really going to free the pegasi?"

"I intend to, yes. It'll take time, as we're also having to fight the Duke and we've only really just started our rebellion, but yes, I hope to make all the pegasi free."

"Not everypony will like it though. Plenty of ponies hate the pegasi for some reason or another even though we've done nothing to them."

Twilight waved a stallion over, finding that Summer had already removed his binders. "I know," she said as she started unlocking his collar, "which is why I'm having you live in a safe location. Maybe someday you'll be able to build your own cloud cities again." The collar fell off and the stallion walked away, rubbing his neck, "I mean, if you want to."

"And go back to doing the weather for food like the old days? Isn't that why ponies hated us in the first place?"

"No, this'll be different. Once we've sorted everything out you'll do the weather in exchange for a wage, rather than food. You'll have to buy the food. That'll put you on even hoofing with other ponies who have to do the same, like in Equestria."

"Equestria? That place is a myth, like the Summer lands. A tale to keep the young ponies hopeful of something better."

"Actually Equestria is very much real, and I happen to come from there. You don't need to die to get there either, you can just fly there."

"Oh? And are all the ponies there like you?"

"Oh yes, we're all pretty nice ponies in Equestria-"

"No, I mean with the wings and horn and things."

"Oh, in that case no. There are only three others like me; Celestia, Luna, and Cadence."

"Celestia? Now I know you're pulling my leg."

"Look, uh... What's your name?"

"Windy Rush, but I prefer to be called Rush."

"Okay then, Rush, I don't know how to convince you that what I'm saying is true, but at the very least I'm being serious when I say I want to help the pegasi. If that isn't enough, then I don't know what is."

"You do that, I'll believe anything you say."

Twilight barked a single laugh, "Hah! Deal. Now go get yourself something to eat and get your people ready to move out. It's an hour's flight from here to Puddingarde, I think, and I know flying is difficult for you all with your wings clipped so I don't want to wear you out too much."

"But what about Drip Dry? She can't fly with her wings like that."

"I'll carry her. It'll be fine, I promise. I don't suppose I could ask you why you all agreed to join us?"

Rush grinned at her, "Always trust a pony with wings. If you had been a proper unicorn or an earth pony asking what you did, the answer might've been very different."

Not the answer Twilight had expected, and not one she particularly wanted either seeing as it hinted at a strong if highly justified dislike of ponies without wings. At least her hunch about bringing Summer and the filly as backup had been spot on. "Fair enough, now go eat and rest up. We'll be heading out as soon as possible."

Twilight did one last check before they left. The guards were loaded into one of the wagons, and what little food there was had been eaten by the pegasi while the less than pleasant slop the pegasi usually ate was being left behind. All the pegasi had been de-collared and unbound, and they were watching her in anticipation of leaving.

"Right, Filly, when you get back to Daybreak tell him what we've done and that I'll be back in the city as soon as I'm done at Puddingarde."

"Yeah, yeah. How come Summer gets to go with you and I don't?"

"Because Summer is going to help me get all the pegasus settled, which requires a gentler touch than yours."

"Hey! I can be gentle! But yeah, sure, whatever." The wagon started moving off and the filly scampered after them before jumping onto the back, sitting in a prime position to annoy the captive guards.

Twilight turned to Summer who was talking to Rush, "Are we ready?"

"I think so," said Summer, "but some of the pegasi are nervous about flying from the compound."

"Why?"

"They're not used to the idea that they can fly where they want," Rush told her. "Even I'm afraid if I'm honest. I keep expecting my collar to trigger, and I'm not even wearing one!"

"Okay then, we'll stay low, but you'll just have to get used to it."

"I know, but it's still scary."

Twilight walked over to the pony now known to her as Drip Dry, "Are you ready?" The mare nodded and Twilight took to the air before scooping her up with her magic. She was slightly horrified to find that the mare possibly weighed less than the filly. She also picked Summer up and gained a bit of altitude before waiting for the others to catch up. Apparently this wasn't going to be a quick journey.

Twilight waited until everypony had caught up, taking a moment to prepare a spell she had never had cause to use before. "Watch," she said to Rush before firing a blob of light at the compound. It landed in the centre of the compound and appeared to do nothing for a moment before growing in size. It started twisting around, tearing the walls and buildings down before dragging them into its centre.

Eventually it ended, leaving a pile of rubble and twisted metal as the only proof that anything had ever been there. Twilight sighed happily, as doing that had been extremely cathartic, and most of the pegasi seemed happy about it too. "What was that?" Rush asked.

"Clover the Clever's oscillating gravity well. I've never been allowed to use it before because it's dangerous, but I figured now was as good a time as any. Now, follow me and we'll soon be in Puddingarde."

They weren't soon in Puddingarde. Contrary to Twilight's optimistic hopes, the pegasi were actually incredibly slow, for pegasi anyway, not that she could blame them, and they required a great many breaks. Then there were the unexpected breaks where one of the pegasus would start freaking out because they kept expecting to get shocked.

That was fine though, if a little tiring because carrying two ponies for that long was hardly childs play even for an alicorn. Fortunately it gave Twilight time to think over how she was going to utilise the pegasi. It had never occurred to her just how much thought went into planning the weather, and while it was hardly beyond her to organise the weather teams, Twilight had to admit she didn't know what weather was meant to be used when. Who decided in Equestria when it was supposed to rain, or the sun shine? Did the pegasi consult the farmers as to what their crops required and work around that? Or was it instinctual?

Twilight gave up in the end, figuring that Celestia might be able to help her figure it out if one of the pegasi here couldn't. She had then moved on to thinking about something she hadn't noticed until she was taking the collars off; most of the pegasus there had no cutie marks. She had asked the filly why, but had got a non-committal shrug as an answer.

The answer had come to her eventually, mostly due to how obvious it was. Pegasi with weather related talents had their marks, but anypony with talents unrelated to weather wouldn't have had the chance to discover what their talent actually was. Maybe now though they would.

Eventually, in fits and starts, they did manage to reach Puddingarde and many of them seemed excited as they landed in the courtyard outside the keep, looking around with childlike wonder. It wouldn't occur to Twilight until some time later that due to the sheltered lifestyle the pegasi endured, anything beyond doing the weather and living in their compounds was completely new to them. Even the idea that they could fly without restrictions was a whole new concept to them, one that they had probably only heard of in stories.

"So, welcome to Puddingarde."

"Is this supposed to be our new home?" Rush asked.

"Yes and no and sort of temporarily." Rush gave Twilight a well deserved funny look. "Ahem, I mean you'll be staying in here temporarily. Once I have things a bit more organised I'm hoping to start building cloud houses around the mountaintop, so you don't have to share living space with the unicorns and earth ponies here since I know that might make you uncomfortable."

"You never said anything about living with horn heads and mud ponies," Rush growled, though Twilight could detect a hint of fear too.

"The ponies living here are good ponies who want to help you. What did you think the rebellion was composed of if not unicorns and earth ponies? You're the first pegasi we've freed."

"I think that maybe its something you could have at least mentioned."

"I'm sorry! I'm from Equestria where there are no tribal divisions! Pegasi live side by side with horn heads and mud ponies, as you call them, which I will thank you to not do or did you forget?" Twilight sat down and tapped her horn. "Tribal slurs won't be tolerated." Twilight sighed, realising that she was being far too aggressive, "I'm sorry, but I don't see how you can hope to spend the rest of your lives without seeing or talking to other kinds of pony. You'll have to learn to accept them as much as they'll have to accept you being free. As I said, it's only temporary. Soon as we can we'll start working on building cloud houses for you. To be honest you could start tomorrow if you wanted."

"Sure," Rush said, "if somepony shows us how."

"You mean you don't know how? I thought they were just made of clouds?"

"Normal clouds would fall apart within days and nopony knows how to made cloudcrete anymore."

"Cloudcrete?" Twilight hadn't heard that name before, but figured that was what pre-exodus pegasi called building quality cloud. She also figured that she really ought to catch up on learning about her pegasus abilities beyond flying. "Okay, so maybe you can't start tomorrow, but I know some ponies who could tell us how to make building quality clouds. Please don't turn your back on this Rush."

Rush eyed her before sighing heavily, "I wasn't going to, but I don't want to stay here if ponies start treating us like slaves, or acting like they're better than us."

"They won't. One thing we make sure of with our members is that they aren't tribalists. You do your job and I'll make sure as best I can that the other ponies treat you with respect and as equals. Who knows, you might even grow to like some of them. For now though I guess you best follow me."

Twilight led them into the keep, finding it to be almost completely empty, although that was to be expected. The only ponies left behind were the blacksmiths, carpenters, and other noncombat ponies, such as the jolly looking pale blue and black maned earth pony mare approaching her now, "Hello Nimble Stitch," Twilight said a little icily. Twilight still hadn't forgiven her for creating that abomination of a flag.

Nimble Stitch smiled warmly, completely ignorant of Twilight's ire towards her, "Welcome back Twilight, I see you brought guests."

"Uh, yes, I did. If you could see to getting them something to eat and organise somewhere for them to sleep, preferably separate from the others, I'd appreciate it. Summer will be sticking around for a little bit to help them settle in, so if you have any problems give her a message and I'll come back to help as soon as I can."

"Of course Twilight, if the Lady wills it, so shall it be." Nimble Stitch noticed Drip Dry standing near Twilight and covered her mouth with a hoof, "Oh you poor dear! This won't do at all! Come along at once and lets get you all a nice hot meal." Nimble started heading into the keep, although Rush looked to Twilight for confirmation before moving. Twilight nodded and Rush and the other pegasi followed after the earth pony, leaving Twilight and Summer alone. As much as Twilight hated the religious connotations that the rebellion had picked up, she had to admit there was an advantage in that not one follower of the Lady she had found was tribalist in the slightest, accepting all ponies without like or dislike.

"Are you really leaving me here?" Summer asked with a whimper. Twilight remembered that the pegasus hadn't really been away from the group since they had saved her.

"Only for a little bit. Until the pegasi get used to the idea that ponies here aren't going to hurt or abuse them, things are going to be a bit tense. I only want you to show them how things work and stick around until things are settled. After that you can return to Neigh Orleans. You remember the way, right?"

"I'm not walking there on my own! What if somepony sees me? What if I'm captured or-or-or-"

"Alright-alright-alright! I won't make you do that. Instead, how about you go help Nimble Stitch with the other pegasus and I'll head down to the command room and catch up on my paperwork for a couple of hours, then we'll go back together?" Summer seemed a lot happier about that. "Okay then, see you in a little bit." Summer trotted off after the others, leaving Twilight to slowly make her way down to the command room. She was surprised that somepony had installed a door in the time since they had left for Neigh Orleans, which was nice because it gave her something to slam before collapsing into a heap.

Twilight was exhausted both mentally and physically, having reached her limit for dealing with things when she smashed that hunter's head in with a brick. The fact that she had managed to bury her grief over that and keep going in a fairly normal manner was a miracle in her opinion. Exhausted as she was it didn't take long for her to slip into a deep, if uneasy slumber.

Twilight was dreaming, or at least she was fairly sure she was. Her first clue was reappearing in the streets by the guards headquarters in Neigh Orleans, the bodies of the dead guards and 'them' still laying where she last saw them. The second clue was having full possession of all her limbs again. At first she had been horrified at being here again, but with that strangely lucid dream logic that sometimes occurred, the horror faded.

A thick fog filled the air, blocking Twilight's view up and down the street, the only sign of life being a light glowing balefully through the thick miasma. Not really wanting to stick around where she was she headed through the fog to the light, but only found herself approaching the place she had left.

Or not quite. The bodies were in different positions to last time, and appeared less injured even if they were still deceased. Twilight spotted another light through the fog, and feeling she had little recourse, headed towards it. Again she found herself in the same place, the bodies this time in the right places, but were just hollow suits of armour.

"You know Luna, if you're there I think it's safe to come out now..." Twilight said out loud, hoping for some kind of answer. None came, and Twilight found herself feeling increasingly anxious. With little else to do she headed to the next light, only to find herself again in the same place, this time with the bodies dismembered with the innards strewn about.

Twilight sprinted past the gory scene, and the next, each with the remains of the dead in different states and positions. Twilight kept sprinting, her panic growing with each new scene of death she found, "Help me Luna, please!" she begged breathlessly.

She skidded to a halt, the street before her empty and pristine. Twilight sat, taking a moment to regain her breath despite not being winded in the slightest, when a scraping sound caught her attention. She looked around and jumped when she saw an armoured figure walking unsteadily towards her, his neck broken with his head cocked upwards in an unnatural angle.

She backed off, only to bump into something behind her. She turned and found herself staring into the single eye of another hunter, the other glowing with a dull red light. "Get away from me!" She lashed out with her magic and the apparition dissipated into black smoke before reforming again.

She backed off as another figure shuffled into view, walking on legs that were clearly broken, his bones cracking and popping with every laboured step. "What do you want with me?" Twilight asked desperately, but they remained unspeaking.

The scraping sound Twilight had first heard came closer, and Twilight was able to make out the fourth hunter, dragging herself along the ground, her rear legs useless with a trail of blood being left behind her. A stream of blood also dripped out the nose of her bent up helmet, adding to the streak of red she left in her wake.

"Go away!" Twilight attacked again and again, but every time the apparitions just reformed a second later. They surrounded her, pushing her back against a wall, coming closer and closer. She sent out a shockwave of energy, decimating them, "Leave me alone!"

It wasn't to be though. The hunters reformed and the mare cocked her head quizzically at Twilight, "Oh Twilight, we'll always be with you." Twilight sat down against the wall and moved to cover her eyes with her hooves, but stopped, staring with disgust at the blood covering them.

"LUNA!!" A shining beam of moonlight pierced down through the fog, shining directly down onto Twilight before growing in size, obliterating the hunters, the fog, and even the street in its light.

"I'm here Twilight," Luna said as she gently spiraled down towards Twilight. She landed and lifted a foreleg, inviting Twilight into a hug which the smaller alicorn gladly accepted. "It's alright Twilight, I'm here now," she whispered into Twilight's ear.

Twilight sobbed into Luna's shoulder for several minutes, crying out more of her pain before pulling away and wiping her eyes, "What took you so long," she joked weakly, noticing they were again amongst the purple and red clouds of Mareitania's broken dreamscape.

"My apologies Twilight, but apart from how careful I must be in the dreamscape here, there is also the problem that you appear to be slumbering in the belly of a mountain. Your own mental traumas did lend their difficulties to the situation as well."

"I'm in Puddingarde," Twilight said, unsure of what to make of the 'mental traumas' comment.

"I suspected as much. Rock is quite the obstacle for a conscience to pass through, which I why I suspect I was oblivious to the existence of Caverndown. Anyway, I suspect something must be amiss if your dreams are so dark."

Twilight looked away and hugged a leg around herself before answering, "I killed them Luna, I killed ponies. Now I'm a monster as well as a freak."

Luna appraised Twilight for a moment before responding, "You are also a good deal too hard on yourself Twilight Sparkle. I realise you wish to be a good pony, but just because you've taken a life of another doesn't mean you're suddenly a bad pony. Especially when the pony whose life you took was already drowning in the blood of innocents."

"I don't know what to think any more Luna. I just want this over with one way or another."

"At the cost of yourself?"

"If that's what it takes."

"Come home Twilight."

Twilight's head shot up and she stared at Luna, "What?"

"Come home. You've started an insurrection now and they can continue the fight without you. Come home, because this isn't worth it if it costs you your very being."

"You can't be serious! I can't quit and go home now!"

"Then believe me when I say you must learn to forgive yourself for these actions you are forced to make. If you cannot, then these feelings of yours are only going to get worse." Luna pulled Twilight into another hug, but straight away it felt too forceful. Twilight looked up into Luna's eyes, noticing a dangerous gleam to them. "Although I must admit Twilight, I do enjoy the little playground of horrors your mind is becoming."

"Luna?" Luna suddenly pushed Twilight away and staggered back, shaking her head and twitching her eyes from side to side, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly. She suddenly stopped and stared transfixed at Twilight.

"I need to go." And like that, she was gone.

"Twilight? Twilight please wake up!" Twilight mumbled something incoherent and cracked an eye open to look up into the concerned visage of Summer. "Oh thank goodness! I was really worried about you."

"Worried?" Twilight's voiced cracked, and she blinked a few times, her eyes puffy and raw like she had been crying.

"You were screaming and crying and you wouldn't wake up no matter how much I shook you." Twilight raised a hoof to her face, finding the fur on her cheeks to be damp.

"I'm fine," she said in what was her most blatant lie of the day. "I was just having a nightmare."

"You were also screaming something about Luna." Twilight's eyes shot fully open, Luna! Suddenly more concerned whether her fellow alicorn as okay, Twilight rolled onto her hooves, intending to find the speaker stone to contact either Celestia or Luna, but remembered that she had left it with her belongings in Neigh Orleans.

She sighed and sat back down again, prompting Summer to look worried again. "I'm sorry if I scared you, I just have a lot on my mind. Actually, could I ask you something?" The pegasus nodded, "You remember when you killed that diamond dog right?"

"Of course."

"Did... Did that not bother you?"

Summer looked away from Twilight, refusing to meet her eyes, leaving Twilight thinking that Summer wasn't going to answer. "I don't know," she said eventually. "I don't really think about it much."

"You don't feel guilty?"

"A little bit, but he was a bad pon-er... person. He was hurting Octavia and trying to catch her, and he hurt the filly as well."

"But what if he hadn't done those things?"

"Then I wouldn't have had to attack him." Twilight thought about that and found herself smiling a little. It was funny where inspiration came from sometimes. Luna said to forgive herself for her actions, and like Summer, she only killed the ponies trying to kill her. Perhaps she was being too hard on herself.

"Okay, thank you for that Summer. That was... surprisingly insightful." Twilight got up again and stretched, her legs and back popping with the motion, reminding her slightly of the nightmare. "What time is it?"

"Um... The sun came up maybe an hour ago?"

"What? Oh dear, we're supposed to be in Neigh Orleans by now!" Twilight started looking for her belongings, once again remembering they weren't there. Instead she started heading upstairs before remembering one little detail that had slipped her mind, "How are the other pegasi doing?"

"They're okay I think. Nimble Stitch was taking good care of them and I think they like her, even if she was trying to teach them how to use a knife and fork," Summer puffed up her feathers and spoke in a pretty good imitation of Nimble's voice, "like 'civilised' ponies."

Twilight snorted, "Yeah, that sounds like something she might do. I just hope she doesn't offend them." They left the keep, the dawn light hurting Twilight's already tender eyes, "So you think they'll be okay if we leave them here?"

"Mmhmm."

"Then let's get going." Twilight scooped Summer up in her magic and headed towards the distant sight of Neigh Orleans.

Author's Notes:

I'm bored, so have a chapter.

Just a quick note. I've recently bought a new laptop, and frankly, for the amount I spent on it they could have included office with it. I'm not the best at grammar so if you start noticing more grammatical errors its because office is no longer here to save me from my worst mistakes.